Less Than Perfect
by GraySkyeMourning
Summary: Nothing can ever be perfect. Anakin ObiWan viggie. Possible RotS spoilers


**Summary: **Nothing can ever be perfect.  
**Characters: **Anakin/Obi-Wan  
**Disclaimers: **GL owns it all. Richard Arlington Robinson owns the poem.

**Less Than Perfect  
**by: **KrystalBlaze**

_WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town, _

_We people on the pavement looked at him: _

_He was a gentleman from sole to crown, _

_Clean favored, and imperially slim. _

_And he was always quietly arrayed, _

_And he was always human when he talked; _

_But still he fluttered pulses when he said, _

_"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked. _

_And he was rich—yes, richer than a king, _

_And admirably schooled in every grace: _

_In fine, we thought that he was everything _

_To make us wish that we were in his place. _

_So on we worked, and waited for the light, _

_And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; _

_And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, _

_Went home and put a bullet through his head._

- "Richard Corey"; Edwin Arlington Robinson

They think he is perfect.

He can see it in their eyes, in the way the eyes follow him when he walks. He can see it, even when he does not choose to show it. He knows it, though, without thinking.

He is perfect, but he is not.

They thought of the perfect Padawan, of the perfect apprentice. The perfect team, the best to have graced the halls for years. They were renowned for that, for their perfect way of handling situations in less than perfect situations.

They think he is perfect… but he less than perfect.

-----

_There was the mission to Naboo, where the perfect Master died. _

_Then… he was less than perfect then. A perfect apprentice was not too slow, did not allow his Master to be killed in front of his eyes. A perfect apprentice was not forced to watch as a monster in red and black killed his mentor. A perfect apprentice did not reach to the Dark for the strength to kill one made of Dark. _

_A perfect apprentice was bathed in Light and did not need the Dark. _

_So he's less than perfect. He wishes they would know that. _

_­_-----

"He's perfect," Anakin said.

The other apprentices looked at him in question.

"You know he's perfect!" Anakin said again. "I hate it. He's not supposed to be perfect."

"He's not perfect," one said, although her eyes were less than true.

"You think so, too," Anakin said bitterly.

The others were silent; unsure of what to say.

Their silence said enough.

"He's too perfect," said Anakin again, and he meant it.

-----

_He sees it in Anakin's eyes. _

_He sees it in the way his eyes smolder when he can beat Anakin in a 'saber duel. He sees it in the way when Anakin does not look at him when he asked to train a 'saber class and Anakin is not. He sees it in the way Anakin shuns him with asked if he needs help for his studies. _

_Anakin thinks he is perfect, too. _

_But Anakin does not know that he is not. Anakin believes what he sees, what everyone else wants him to see. He is not yet old enough to realize that nothing is perfect, that nothing is crystal without a faultline. _

_Anakin does not see his own faultline. _

_He does not see that he is also perfect. _

_-----_

The Hero Without Fear.

"I didn't ask for the name, Master," Anakin said, jovial in his tone.

Obi-Wan sighed. "I know, Anakin. But do you really want to be known as the Hero Without Fear? Because it might lead to… fear."

"I'm not afraid," Anakin said confidently. "I have nothing to be afraid of. And besides, they call you the Negotiator."

A slight smile curled Obi-Wan's lips. "If I were the Negotiator, then I'd be able to negotiate you into not trying to kill yourself on every mission we're sent."

"I don't try, Master," Anakin said. "If I did try, I'd succeed."

The smile stayed. "Don't be so sure, my young apprentice."

Slight annoyance on Anakin's face. "For how much longer, Master? Isn't it time I be Knighted? Haven't I earned that right?"

The smile faded. "When the Council deems you ready, then ready you are."

Frustration. "Master, I'm not perfect. Isn't it time enough now?"

"No one's perfect, Anakin."

And now bitterness. "You are."

Laughter. "You believe that?"

Disbelief. "You don't?"

Laughter still. "Nothing's perfect, Padawan. Nothing can ever be."

Then a whisper Obi-Wan couldn't hear. "Except you."

-----

_Anakin does not see that he, too, is perfect in the same way Obi-Wan is. _

_Both are perfectly flawed. _

_Obi-Wan sees Anakin's, in his bravado and his compassion that edges towards attachment. _

_Anakin does not see Obi-Wan's flaw, because he can't. _

_He doesn't want to, even if he could. _

_-----_

"Master, you're appointed to the Council?"

Disbelief. Slight anger. "When?"

Obi-Wan just looked at him. "Just right now, Anakin. Or Knight Skywalker, I should say."

The humor did not dull the feelings. "What does that mean, Master? That you won't be sent on missions anymore?"

Laughter. "Of course not. All Masters are sent on missions these days. We are too short a Jedi Knight to not."

Frustration. "That's unexpected. What have you done to earn the honor?"

Accusation? From Anakin? Obi-Wan looked at him in slight aversion. "What do you mean, Anakin? The Council has deemed me fit to serve, and I will."

Disappointment. Anakin could be on the Council if Obi-Wan could, couldn't he? Hadn't they both proven themselves of equal opportunity and skill? How many times had he saved Obi-Wan's hide from certain death? How many more time would Anakin have to so he could prove his worth?

Unless, of course, the Council thought Obi-Wan was perfect, too.

_They must. _

-----

_Anakin does not see the fear, the unknowing and uncertainty.__ He does not see the doubt, the arrogance. _

_He does not really see Obi-Wan. _

_He sees the perfect Master, the perfect Jedi. Obi-Wan was not a slave to his emotions. Did Obi-Wan even feel? _

_And there was the imperfection. _

_Obi-Wan felt too much. _

_-----_

Fire.

"I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you."

Anger. Blind, seething anger. "I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over!"

Sadness. Infinite sadness. "Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"

Blazing hatred. "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"

_And there is your flaw, my Anakin. There is your flaw. _

Sadness, laced with regret and disbelief. "Well, then you are lost!"

Tangled 'sabers as they met each other above the fire. Flaming hatred and regret matched, mounted and moved. Anakin's was a rage of anger and betrayal. Obi-Wan's was a rage of love, of disbelief and bitterness.

And failure.

He had failed.

-----

_Perfect people don't fail, Anakin. _

But you never fail, Master.

_You believe in me too much, Anakin. I have failed many times and I will continue. _

I have never seen you, Master.

_Because you choose not to.__ You choose not to see that I, too, am flawed. _

What flaws, Master? I don't see them.

_I can't let you see them. _

Why not, Master?

_And Obi-Wan cannot answer him, because it would be both their undoing. _

-----

"This is the end for you, my Master."

Agility. He flipped around Anakin, onto the bank. Safety for now. "It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground."

A small trill of laughter. "You underestimate my power."

And then the crashing wave of hope, of prayer that Anakin would not. "Don't try it."

Anakin leapt, and Obi-Wan sealed his fate.

-----

_You were my flaw, Anakin. _

_Love is my flaw, but you can never know that. _

_Arrogance is my flaw, but you can never know that. _

_Why have I done, Anakin? _

_You wanted me to be perfect so you didn't have to be. _

_What have we become? _

_-----_

"We have become an infinity of things," Obi-Wan whispered to himself.


End file.
